Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
